Dr Crane No More
by justinxx
Summary: Jonathan Crane has a special surprise for his psychology class that will surely keep them interested. Based off Nolan's Scarecrow/Comic origins. Tells of how he enjoys instilling fear on others, career as a psychology professor, etc.


It was another foggy, chilly morning in sleepless Gotham City. Psychology professor Jonathan Crane didn't mind the chills that scraped down his spine as he opened his car door and grabbed his metal briefcase and thick textbooks. In fact, the bitter weather wasn't the reason goosebumps grew up his arms and legs and it wasn't the reason he was rushing to burst into the front doors of Gotham University for his first period psychology lesson.

Today's analysis would be on fear, an obsessive fascination for Dr. Crane. He had a very special demonstration for today's lesson, one he worked all night on perfecting. Today would be a breakthrough in his teaching career.

Approaching the glass doors of the university, he could see his own reflection in the recently cleaned glass. Jonathan's sunken eyes sat behind his signature rectangular rimmed glasses, which poked out of his long, untidy crow-colored hair. He inserted his pale, shaking fingers in his greasy hair and smoothed it back the best he could to appear formal. The teachers and students at Gotham University always gave him stares for not dressing well. He spent most of his money on psychological studies and materials for his surreptitious experiments. At his right shoulder, the sewn cloth on his grimy black suit was torn down about three inches from his shoulder, his stained white dress shirt peeking through the tear, but he didn't mind. He wore black slacks and his best shoes to match his attire the best he could. He wanted to look his best today. He _needed_ to be his best today.

Opening the wide, frigid door, three textbooks under his arm and his suitcase gripped tightly in his other hand, he made his way hurriedly to his classroom. Ignoring the glares and laughs from ignorant students and teachers alike, he fumed with a hidden rage as he exhaled forcefully through his crooked nose. Clenching his jaw, he realized how piteous these sickened people really were. They were all part of the disease, the fear that is put onto others without a care for one another. The miserly, vitriolic so-called educators of this fine establishment instill anxiety and dread in the ones ranked lower than them. The ungrateful, egocentric students here do not care about establishing principles about human behavior and emotion and don't realize the fact that they are decaying this world each day because of their decisions. These people need to realize that they do not make this world. Only one thing is certain in the evolution of the human race, and that certainty is fear. Humans fear each and every day and all the blinded people of Gotham do not see that. Why is he the only one that gets it?

 _I_ _t didn't matter_ , Jonathan thought. _They would realize soon enough_.

Pulling up his sleeve and glancing at his watch before he opened the door to his classroom, he noticed that he had been five minutes late. He sighed and stared at the door for a few moments.

 _Everything will go according to plan_ , he told himself. _Just calm down, Jonathan, and everything will be okay_. _These students will see the significance of fear after your lesson_. _They will succumb to fear, and you will embrace it_. _You will be the master of fear_.

After a deep breath, he exhaled slowly and entered the room. Boys and girls were scattered across the room, chatting loudly and throwing school supplies at each other. No one noticed Dr. Crane walk in. Striding to his small wooden desk at the front of his class, he dodged a paper airplane from one of his students. Setting his textbooks atop a stack of files and laying his briefcase under his lamp, he began to write on the chalkboard. Written in neat handwriting, he wrote 'Analyzing Fear' in large letters. He set the chalk on his desk and looked at his students.

Not one person cared to look at Jonathan Crane. He often wondered why they showed up when they weren't willing to learn anything. They are here to learn, and they need to act like it.

Jonathan cleared his throat loudly, attempting to gain attention. Only six students of his class of thirty stopped what they were doing to pay attention. Clenching his jaw once again, he resisted starting his experiment now. That would most likely grab their attention, but he needed to wait for the perfect moment. He needed the situation to be perfect. The students needed to be quiet and unaware and the time needed to be right. Jonathan picked up one of his heavy, colorful textbooks on the human mind and slammed it on his desk in anger.

The ill-bred children gazed questioningly at Dr. Crane, at last aware of their professor. Ignorant voices fell silent and movement ceased. Just as Jonathan Crane needed it.

"Good morning, everyone" Jonathan announced with a hint of sarcasm.

"It's always a warming sight to see that you're all ready to learn. Now, you all have done your assigned chapters out of your psychology textbooks, correct?"

Only three students raised their hands, showing that they did their work. Jonathan bit his lip, almost to the point of bleeding.

"I see. For those of you who did not read and take notes on your assigned chapters last night, you're in luck! I'll be going over the concepts in today's discussion and I have conducted a demonstration that is _sure_ to hold your attention" Dr. Crane promised with a brief smirk.

"Last night, you were all told to read on the construct of fear, including its cause, effects, and properties. Fear is induced by a threat from an idea, which causes the brain to lose its current state of mind and your organs and bodily functions to change behavior. For example, if you see something that frightens you, your bodily behavior changes. You might flail your body in every direction, cry, scream, or you might freeze up. Fear acts instantly, tightening your muscles and intensifying the signals that your body sends when you feel it. Your body prepares to act, such as to flee or to hide, and subconscious flashes of images of failure to act quickly often occurs when in the state of fear. It's truly a beautiful emotion, really."

Jonathan strolls to his briefcase and flips the locks.

"There has, however, been a discovery in the medical field involving fear. There is a new toxin available that attacks the fear signals and alters the consumer's reactions to that emotion. It will be as if you were never afraid at all."

Jonathan lifts the case open and examines its beauty. Dozens of vials filled with an eerie orange substance glow out at Jonathan's face, causing his face to contort into a mischievous smile. A metal contraption is placed beside the vials of toxin, three vials inserted into it, which processes the liquid to a gaseous state of matter to be released into the air. Jonathan couldn't help but admire his work of beauty. Months of hard work would now pay off, and his superiors and inferiors would not see Jonathan Crane as an odd, eccentric teacher anymore, but they _would_ see him as a master. A master of the human body. A master of fear.

"Care to try it out?"

The class looked puzzlingly at their professor. Was he really serious? Was this some kind of joke?

If Jonathan Crane didn't have their attention before, he had it now. He tore the rectangular glasses off his face and inserted them into his dress shirt. He reached into the back pocket of his slacks and felt for the rough skin of his face. Woven with patches of grimy burlap sack, he gazed marvelously at his true face. This is who he really was. Dr. Crane was not who Jonathan wanted to be. Jonathan never felt truly alive as Dr. Crane. The Scarecrow was who he really was. He is what completes Jonathan Crane. The Scarecrow embodied all that Dr. Crane was too scared to be.

Powerful. Dangerous. Intimidating. Fear.

"D-Dr. Crane?" a girl asked, a confused look upon her face.

"Dr. Crane isn't here right now" he states, slipping his face on, the beautiful scent of power filling his nostrils and trailing down his lungs. "But if you'd like to make an appointment..."

The class sat uneasily, cautious of their professor. Students mumbled to each other, confused, wondering what their teacher was doing.

Scarecrow closed his eyes, a sense of euphoria and power flowing throughout his body. His body loosened up as he opened his eyes again, scowling at his test subjects through the misshapen eyes of his skin.

The demonstration was ready to begin.

"Dr. Crane, you're really freaking us out" a boy exclaimed, his classmates squirming in their seats at the sight of their teacher's face. The awkwardly sewn patches of skin, the lopsided stitched up mouth, and stringy neck sent chills down everyone's spines.

Scarecrow smiled as he turned a switch on his shining piece of work, watching the vials of his precious toxin drain into the contraption. Turning a dial to the right, he then pushed a button, a greenish gray smoke escaping the nozzle aimed toward the ceiling.

The gas began to fill the classroom, with students coughing and gagging, doubling over in their seats. A row of girls screamed, followed by a handful of boys, and then everyone started shrieking and yelling.

"Get it off me! Get it off!"

"Get away from me!"

"Stop! Please don't hurt me!"

"They're all over me!"

The lovely sound of terror filled Scarecrow's ears as he danced to the wonderful tune. He kicked his feet in the air and twirled around happily. He slid his arms across his desk, knocking over piles of papers, folders, books, and assignments. Picking up his briefcase, he guided it across the room and over the heads of the screaming children, as if dancing with a lover. Students fell out of their seats and tripped over their desks, writhing on the ground in tears among the messes of paper and school supplies. Scarecrow laughed.

"One last thing you should know about fear," Scarecrow shouted over the deafening shrieks and cries.

"Is that every human faces it!"

An alarmed teacher opened the classroom door, gazing in horror at the coughing students and smoke-filled classroom. His eyes grew wide in shock and his mouth hung open.

"Here, professor, take some medicine. It'll make you feel better!" Scarecrow announced as he shoved the exploding briefcase in his face. The stunned teacher covered his eyes and screamed, Scarecrow kicking him to the ground in laughter.

Scarecrow pranced up and down the halls, opening doors and making surprising but much-needed entrances to each class. Screams, cries, and moans of terror grew louder as the fear toxin filled the lower level floor and made it's way up the stairs into the other classrooms. Students and teachers ran amok through the halls, scratching at themselves and cowering in corners. Scarecrow kicked desks over, tore down bulletins, stepped over people on the ground, and hummed to the melody of the cries.

Scarecrow was happy. The disgusting members of this school at last understood the importance of fear. They are realizing that they are all vulnerable to fear and that it cannot be stopped. They would now see Jonathan Crane as Scarecrow, the master of fear. No one would laugh at Jonathan Crane ever again. No one.

As Scarecrow took one last look at the beautiful chaos that seductively danced before his eyes, he breathed a sigh of victory. Setting the briefcase down on the ground, he exited the doors of Gotham University, his scrawny frame skipping down the steps.

"Test 1 was a complete success!" Scarecrow cried in glee.

As he sped off in his car, laughing at the thought of his ungrateful screaming co-workers and students, Scarecrow reached behind his seat and gripped the handle of another briefcase, setting it in the passenger seat and flipping the locks.

"Commencing Test 2… now!"


End file.
